HOME - Heritage Journey - The Birth of an Ancient Culture

THE BIRTH OF AN ANCIENT CULTURE A traditional Cherokee legend says that the mountains and valleys were created by a great buzzard as his wings slapped the earth's soft crust. The history of the North Carolina Mountains has been marked by tremendous geological violence, enhanced by an advanced native civilization and scarred by a shameful chapter from America's past. These ancient mountains are the homeland of the Cherokee Nation, a trading zone for explorers and pioneers, and a land of opportunity for persecuted Europeans fleeing tyranny and famine. Entrepreneurs would build their fortunes from our rich forests and ecologists would take them back, preserving our natural treasures for generations to come. Here, in the world's oldest mountains, cultures collide; music, art and dance are woven together to reveal the distinctive fabric of our mountain heritage. The Great Smokies were settled from the outside-in through a series of treaties that wrestled the mountains from the Cherokee.